Thursday, August 10, 2017

Where Are The Democrats?

The news every day is a Britannica of stupid coming out
of the White House and congress. I say the White House, you know, but I mean
wherever the Donald happens to be, Mar a Lago, a MacDonalds, some other golf
course, France, a campaign rally out in Kick Stump, wherever his 3G is getting
the hook-up. Don’t allow loose talk about how the Republicans “can’t seem to
get anything done” to fool you. They’re getting plenty done. And it’s all either
stupid, mean-spirited, contrary to American values, treasonous, venal, vaguely
unconstitutional, or borderline criminal. Regulatory changes; judicial
appointments; more Gerrymandering; policy changes at Federal agencies and
cabinet departments; that whole anti “voter fraud” program; the purging of
voter lists in general; the demonization of all non-white Americans; and the
jettisoning of any government decision or rule that might help non-white Americans
or promote science or justice; this program has been going great guns since the
inauguration, with considerable success. What has been the response of people
who preferred the direction that America had been going in for the previous
hundred years? Good question.

Thank God we have the Democrats to protect our
democracy with their ingenious, comprehensive, and vigorously pursued program
to limit the damage to our great American experiment in self-government!

No, the Democrats do not seem to be too worried about,
nor even particularly aware of, what’s going on. They are not challenging
anything; amazingly, they are not even complaining about the Republicans
ramming through rule changes and forcing through dozens of Federal judge
appointments, the same appointments that they denied to President Obama for
eight years. The Democrats have yet to advance one attractive candidate for any
office, either now, for special elections, or for 2018, for what will be a
spectacularly important off-year congressional election, or for the next
presidential election in 2020. What are they waiting for? There have been more
than a half-dozen special elections for congressional seats since Trump was sworn
in. The Democrats have managed to lose almost all of them. If the Democrats are
trying to formulate a plan, it is still a deep, dark secret, and if they are
taking any baby-steps to counter the immediate threats to our way of life,
those steps are invisible and ineffectual.

Standard Disclaimer for rants like this: Yes, I am
aware of Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. Yes, I like both of them very
much. Yes, I find them to be highly intelligent, articulate, good-hearted and
hard-working people, and I am glad that they are in the Senate. Two individuals
is not even a good start, however. It’s John the fucking Baptist announcing a
movement that may or may not gather followers. So far, it looks like “not.”

The Democrats at large can't seem to agree on
anything, with the possible exception being their general dislike of Debbie
Wasserman Schultz. Okay, that was agenda item number one. She now wanders
outside the city walls. Can we move on to item two?

They do have a new slogan, the Democrats do. It’s so
lame I won’t even repeat it here. It’s an obvious copy from the slogan of the
mediocre pizza chain, Pappa John’s. They might as well have adopted the slogan,
“mom, apple pie, and Christmas.”

I guess that we can forget about help from the
Constitution as well. The Constitution has several mechanisms for blocking a
duly elected but obviously unqualified president from taking office, or
removing one who either abuses his power or proves himself to be an idiot. They
are there for anyone to read, and we are all justifiably proud of their words
standing strong in that great document. We are now discovering to our chagrin
that in its current interpretation by the American legal system the
Constitution is a SUICIDE PACT. In
spite of his having lost the actual vote count by a rather dramatic margin, and
despite being possessed of a lazy and weak mind, with no relevant experience
for the job, Donald Trump was the clear winner in the all-important Electoral
College, so we’re stuck with him for at least the next four years. Plus four
years after that if the electorate and the voting process itself can be rigged for the second
time in a row, and we'll be stuck with him forever if the Republicans can achieve their “final solution” to the
problem of national elections. Two hundred years from now, a hologram of Donald
Trump could still be the president of the United States. Would the hologram say the same stupid things over and over again, or would they put intelligent words, or maybe homilies, in its mouth? Nothing would surprise
me anymore, although they’ll probably go with a hologram of Reagan when the time comes. He’s more
likeable. How about John Wayne? The Duke! We’ve broken the stupid barrier,
people. The stars are the limit!

Alas, Babylon! Are we to be covered with the same dust
that now blows over the bones of that once-great city?

Or, in words that will probably be more attractive to
most Americans, will we still have big flat-screen TVs? Will there still be
wi-fi? Netflix? 4G? Will there still be Happy Hour dinner specials at Applebee’s?
Will they keep the taxes low on beer? Can I keep my car? Will there still be recreational
weed? Will there be a season four of Better Call Saul? Will Dirty Johnny still
sell bootleg Oxy?

If we can still have most of these things, it is likely
that most people won’t care what we lose in the way of freedom, equality, and
democracy. Most strongly in the “not caring” column will be the straight, white
Americans from places you've never heard of who voted for Trump in the first place. Let’s face it, it has always been better to be straight and white in
America, and it’s getting better every day, even as we speak. If they can put
the straight, white Americans back in charge, it’ll be over for sure. This will
not end well.

As always, the blogger wishes us all a hearty Good
Luck! Bon chance, mon Ami! Viel Gluck, Landsman! And remember, in good times you have a certain measure of rights, but in
bad times, all you have is the right to get your head cracked open by a night stick.
So be careful, you.

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About Me

Mr. C is: a reformed lawyer; a religious atheist; a useful "Handy Man;" an amateur social scientist; a beloved teacher; a well liked husband and father; Ambassador Emeritus from, and to, Planet X; a freelance professor; taxi driver to the stars (Joe DiMaggio and Ronald McDonald, both out of uniform); an excellent fire fighter; an enthusiastic but untalented musician; an experienced counselor; a top-notch disk jockey; an all around get-along-guy; a cunning linguist; a would-be lifestyle victim; a Masonic wannabe; a frequent reader; Professor Irwin Corey's Ph.D. adviser; an accomplished driver and motorcyclist; a famous rockologist; a reliable but indifferent bullshit detective; a poor speller; a proud United States Navy veteran (honorably discharged, barely); the Ayatollah of Ass-o-Hola; a drug legend; a Returned Peace Corps volunteer (Thailand); a generally charming man; nationally and internationally known from coast to coast; a legend in his own mind; a cultural-anthropological critic-at-large; an avenging angel who coolly bides his time; Soul Brother number 37; and a friend to the poor.